The target environment is based on tmux and zsh with an emphasis on Python devevelopment. The author's primary text editor is vim so shortcuts are influenced by vim and vim-mode (key bindings supported by other CLI commands).
BTY is intended to be usable as a working environment tailored toward Python development based on common, cross-platform tools; sprinkled with some well-intentioned shortcuts that are geared toward common development workflows. That said, it should be treated more like a tutorial or learning framework. For example, when learning a musical instrument one often starts with a structured set of lessons and mnemonics which vary from mentor to mentor but whose purpose is to help our feeble brains learn the common foundational patterns. Generally, if you persist in your efforts, these patterns will become second nature and you'll start adding your own flourishes as you develop your own style.
Install BTY
tmux zsh python virtualenvwrapper 2.10
People often keep their configuration files in a VCS. A common convention is to name this repo 'dotfiles'. BTY works well with this model and encourages you to keep manage your config files in one or more repositories. This makes it easy to switch between or try out other configurations and is hoped to encourage community developed templates for best practices.
Crafting a proper piece of code is often the result of using a number of tools. By the time you've finished writing a small piece of code, you may have poked around a database, ran some snippets in an interactive Python shell, run tests, stepped through a debugger, checked some log files, started a local WSGI server, and flushed a cache. My brain seems least stressed when I can manage all these tasks separately, but in an easily accessible way. Huh? What I mean is, the following don't work well for me:
In the first case, you may quickly lose older output that exceeds the scroll buffer. Trying to parse through the output of many different commands is tiring. You have to stop your development services (like Django runserver) in order to run other commands. The second case fixes the last point, but eventually you hit The GUI Barrier.
To be fair, some may be perfectly productive using GUI tabs in a console window although I think everyone hits a limit where if you keep increasing the number of tabs the interface becomes cumbersome to use. I'll offer that using another solution provides the same functionality as well as offering more elegant and flexible ways to manage your tasks.
Enter the Terminal Multiplexer
A terminal multiplexer will let you run virtual consoles within the same terminal. This is analagous to the tabs in terminal interface, but better. A good terminal multiplexer will provide a lot of flexibility for managing each console/tab/window. You want the ability to be able to move windows around, mix multiple windows into a single screen, and stash away windows that you're not actively using, but still want available.
Another nice feature of a terminal multiplexer is that you can detach from your running session and it will remain running. For example, you detach, close your terminal window, and later you open a new terminal window and attach. I use this feature often to switch between computers. I have a main work computer that I run my development environment in, but when I want to work from another machine I ssh to my work box and attach to my session with everything exactly as I left it, and resume work. Some terminal multiplexers also allow for various multiuser modes - great for team collaboration here, there, or anywhere.
Minimal intro to tmux...
Terminology
A Server is started. A Server manages multiple Sessions A Session is a collection of Windows A Window can multiple Panes, each holding a link to a Window A Client connects to the Server and is attached to a Session
It is worth browsing through the tmux man page, which provides more detail about the tmux operational model. Also notice the extensive commands section. Many aspects of tmux behavior and appearance can be controlled in a consistent manner.
List commands, shortcuts, aliases Reloading config shortcuts for interactive tweaking
How the environment is constructed
virtualenvwrapper rolling your own
Example workflows